Self-acting closure



Filed July 3, 1947 C. GEORGE BERGQ UIST Patented Get. 31, 1950SELF-ACTING CLOSURE Carl George Bergquist, Stamford, Coma, asaignor toElectrolux Corporation, Old Greenwich, Conn., acorporation of DelawareApplication July 3, 1947, Serial No. 758,802

This invention relates to. receptacle closures and is particularlyconcerned with self-acting closures which automatically return to anaperture closin position after opening movement thereof.

While the basic. inventive concept is broadly applicable to a widevariety of receptacles including rigid metallic and wooden boxes andglass or like containers it may well find its greater application in thefield of bags and boxes formed of inexpensive material, such as cloth orpaper. In particular, the invention is adapted for use as a closure forporous dustreceptacles of suction cleaners and is specifically designedfor use as a. self-closing mouth for a disposable porous paper dustseparating receptacle for tank type suction cleaners.

It is among the prime objects of the present invention to provide anovel, simple and improved receptacle closure which is automaticallyself-closing.

Another prime object is to provide a closure of the type referred towhich is adapted for manufacture from inexpensive and readily availablematerials and which may be efficiently assembled by automatic equipmentwith a minimum of fabricating expense.

A similar object is to provide a closure which will automatically andeffectively close a receptacle aperture after the opening thereof andwhich while inexpensive as to materials and ma ufacturing cost will havea long efficient and-effective life.

Another object is to provide a closure member in which a plurality ofpartially independent flexible fingers cooperate in automaticallyflexing into a common plane proximate to the plane of a receptacleapertur to closing such aperture.

Similarly an object is to provide a closure in which interlacing closureelements cooperate to provide an effective but yieldable seal for theaperture of a receptacle.

A further object is to provide a closure which is adapted to receivetherethrough a tube or the like and which by operation of such device iscaused to provide for an interlacing of parts whereby the closure willautomatically seal a receptacle aperture as an incident to thewithdrawal of the tube.

Numerous other objects and features of the present invention will beapparent from the following specification when taken into conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a first element 01' the closure:

4 Claims. (.CI. 22943) Fig. 2-is a similar view of a second element otheclosure;

' Fig. 3 is'a top plan view showing the elements of Figs. 1 and 2 insuperposed position before in sertion of the filling tube;

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the closure of Fig. 3 after removal of afilling tube;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the closure with the filling tubeinserted therethrough, and

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the filling tube being withdrawn fromthe closure.

The structure of the present invention includes a pair of cooperatingelements each of which comprise an encircling body having inwardlyextending fingers. Such elements are arranged to gether with a. relatedorientation such that the fingers of one member overlie the proximateedges of the fingers of the other member. An important feature of theinvention is that the fingers are formed to include edges, the radialextent of which are less than the radial extent of the next adjoiningedge of the next adjoining fingers of the companion element. Thisarrangement is such that in response to flexing pressure upon thefingers, as by the insertion of a filling tube or the like, the fingersare sprung inwardly to lie in a position angularly oriented withrelation to the base of the fingers and with the shorter edges overlyingthe longer ones. Thus, when pressure is relieved, as when the tube iswithdrawn, the longer side edges of the fingers will start to move inthe direction of resumption of the normal plane of the elements beforethe shorter edges and thus such longer edges will pass beneath theshorter ones of the next adjacent finger so that the fingers will becomeinterlaced to sealingly close the aperture.

A feature of the invention is that interlacing of the fingers may beeither an overlapping or an underlapping i. e. the non-radial fingercorners, that is the corners formed between the radial ends i8 or 28 andthe chordal short sides I 9 or 29 may either overlap the adjacent longsides H or 21 as in Fig. 4 or they may be oppositely moved to underlap.Thus, the device is self-actuating, in response to the projectiontherethrough of a tube or the like; from either side thereof.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the element of Fig. 1,which may be termed the first element, is preferably formed of asubstantially rectangular sheet ill of material, preferably paper orfoil, having a natural flexibility so that its normal position is withall parts thereof in a single plane. While paper or foil is. here massessuggested, as usually adequate and both availeable and inexpensive, thinflexible metal or treated and synthetic sheets may, of course, be used.The important characteristics of the material are, in addition tostrength, lightness and durability, an ability to flex back into asingle plane after movement therefrom, it being desirable that suchflexibility be such that the return will take place even after asustained deflection.

The sheet 60 is here shown as secured to a more rigid apertured endmember H to which a receptacle body 82 may be secured in any desiredmanner. For use as a suction cleaner dust separating and retainingreceptacles the body l2 will be formed of porous material preferably ofpaper or similar inexpensive and readily disposable material. Theinvention is, of course, not limited to a construction including thefiexible body glued or otherwise conveniently secured to a rigidapertured end member of a structure in which the end member has appliedover the aperture thereof the separately formed elements one and two ofthe closure itself. Obviously, the elements one and two may be formedintegrall by a single sheet folded back upon itself to superimpose thecooperating sections thereof and if desired such elements may themselvesconstitute the entire end structure to which the bag body is attached.Likewise the end and body may be formed integrally. Thus, it will beseen that the structural embodiment described and depicted is notintended to limit the extent or scope of the inventive concept.

The more rigid end member II has a central circular aperture in overwhich the first member I is positioned. The spaces between the bases ofthe fingers of the member In constitute a central aperture l5 which isadapted for registration with the aperture M of the end member il.Inwardly from the aperture l5 member I9 is provided with a plurality ofuniformly spaced fingers l6, here shown as four in number. Each fingeris provided with a long radial side I! eX tending from the edge of theaperture l5 to the center thereof. Each finger is also provided with aradially disposed end l8 which extends from the center of the apertureradially at an angle of 90 to the long side I! for a short distance andterminates in its juncture with a short chordal side l9 of the fingerwhich is disposed at an angle to the long radial side I! and to radialend [8 and lies on a chord of the aperture and thus will constitute theshort side of the finger.

With respect to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the second element 20 isformed with a duplicate number of similarly formed fingers 25 having thelong radial sides 21, radial ends 28 and chordal short sides 29corresponding to the long sides ll, ends l8 and short sides IQ of thefingers of the first element. The fingers 26 of the second element 20,however, are oriented at 45 degrees with respect to the finger l6 sothat the bases of the fingers 26 will upon superimposition of theelements lie directly over the apertures 30 between the fingers l6,while the bases of the fingers l5 will lie directly under the apertures3| formed between the fingers 26 of the second element 20. The secondelement 20 is positioned in oriented relation over the first element l0and secured therewith to the base II as by gluing. The parts thusassembled will be as shown in Fig. 3, with the fin ers of the first andsecond elements lying in their own plane without interlacingtherebetween. A t r manipulation of the fingers as will be hereinafterexplained, the short side and 4 the radial end of each finger will bemoved to the opposite side of the next adjacent finger to overlie orunderlie the long radial side of such next adjacent finger, thusinterlacing the fingers to automatically form an interlocking sealingclosure as depicted in Fig. 4.

While the interlacing of'the fingers of the elements may be preformed bymanual manipulation or otherwise prior to the filling oi a container towhich the invention is applied, Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the automaticinterlacing of such fingers upon insertion of a filling tube. Fig. 5illustrates the internal face of the closure with a filling tube 40inserted therethrough.

Upon insertion of the tube its side walls engage the long radial sides(I and 21! of the fingers l6 and 26, respectively, deforming theminwardly out of the plane of the closure and in so doing, the fingersare twisted so that the short chordal sides l9 and 29 extend outwardlyfrom the axis of the tube beyond the position of the edges ill and 21,thus giving each finger an axial or longitudinal twist. Fig. 6 shows thetube 4B withdrawn to a point beyond the terminal ends of the radial endsof the fingers and in such withdrawal the twisted relation of therelation of the fingers will cause the corners formed by the radial endsand the chordal sides to underlie the next adjacent finger so that uponfull withdrawal of the tube, the aperture of the receptacle will befully closed by the interlaced fingers as shown in Fig. 4. Thus, acontainer provided with the present closure may be delivered empty withthe closure fingers of each element lying in their own planes as in Fig.3, but upon insertion of a filling tube and the withdrawal thereof thefingers will assume the strong interlaced and sealing relation shown inFig. 4.

As before pointed out, the interlacing may be by overlying or underlyingof the non-radial corners. Thus, if the tube were inserted oppositelyfrom the side indicated in Fig. 5 subsequent withdrawal thereof wouldcause an opposite interrelation from that shown in Fig. 4 or if the tubewere such that upon withdrawal they would be drawn outwardly with thetube, upon full disengagement of the tube, the fingers would drop intooppositely interrelated position.

While the fingers may interleave in either the overlapping orunderlapping relation, it has been found that once interleaved theclosure partakes of a check valve characteristic in that while reopeningmay readily take place by thrust from the non-overlapping side, that isthe side shown in Fig. 4 an opening thrust from the opposite side, hereshown as the inside of the bag is strongly resisted. In response to sucha reverse thrust, the overlapping portions must be forced past theradial sides and hence olTer resistance to such movement. Thus, whenused as a receptacle closure as here shown the device is not only aself-closing structure, but is also a check valve closure.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention providesa novel, simple and improved self-actuating closure fully fulfilling theobjects of the invention hereinbefore set forth. It will be understood,of course, that numerous changes, modifications and the full use ofequivalents may be resorted to in the practice of the invention withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A receptacle mouth structure comprising a pair of normally fiatcooperating sheet members,

each comprising a perimeter structure defining a circular aperture witha plurality of inwardly directed resiliently deformable spaced fingersnormally lying in the plane of their perimeter structure, the number offingers on each member being identical, the fingers of one member beingoriented with respect to those of the other so that they overlie thespaces between the fingers of the other and overlap a portion of suchfingers.

2. A self-closing receptacle closure comprising a plurality of normallyfiat sheet members secured together one over the other, said sheetmembers including sets of resiliently deformable closure fingersarranged with each set in closely parallel planes with a portion of thefingers of one set overlapping a portion of the fingers of an adjacentset, the number of fingers on each memberbeing identical, the fingers ofone set being movable between the fingers of the adjacent set and pastthe edges of the overlapped portions thereof whereby the fingers of theadjacent sets are interleaved.

3. In a structure for closing an aperture, a pair of normally fiat sheetmembers secured together one over the other, each member including aperimeter portion defining a circular aperture and a plurality of spacedfingers extending inwardly across said aperture from said perimeterportion, the number of fingers on each member being identical, each ofsaid fingers including a radial side edge extending to the center of thecircular aperture,'said radial side edges facing in the samecircumferential direction, an opposite non-radial side edge angularlydisposed with respect to the radial edge and an inner radial end edge oneach finger, the inner radial edge of each finger coinciding with aportion of the radial side edge of the adjacent finger of the samemember, said members being oriented with respect to each other so thatsaid circular apertures are in alignment and the fingers of each memberoverlap the spaces between the fingers of the other member and overlapportions of the fingers of the other member.

4. In a structure for closing an aperture, a pair of normally fiat sheetmembers secured together one over the other, each member including aperimeter portion defining a circular aperture and a plurality of spacedfingers extending inwardly across said aperture from said perimeterportion, the number of fingers on each member being identical, each ofsaid fingers including a radial side edge extending to the center of thecircular aperture, said radial side edges facing in the samecircumferential direction, an opposite non-radial side edge angularlydisposed with respect to the radial edge and an inner radial end edge oneach finger, the inner radial edge of each finger coinciding with aportion of the radial side edge of the adjacent finger of the samemember, said members being oriented with respect to each other so thatsaid circular apertures are in alignment and the fingers of said membersare interleaved so that the fingers of each member overlap the spacesbetween the fingers of the other member and overlap portions of thefingers of the other members.

C. GEORGE BERGQUIST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 880,952 Yarnall Mar. 3, 19081,867,914 Geist July 19, 1932 1,904,365 Geist Apr. 18, 1933 2,014,477Lee Sept. 17, 1935 2,415,862 Belcher Feb. 18, 1947

